The first post could use an update with the recent pricing changes now in play, the ones at the top of the first post are no longer valid. Also, some verbiage about software updates in the first few posts could stand a refresh, too.

The first post could use an update with the recent pricing changes now in play, the ones at the top of the first post are no longer valid. Also, some verbiage about software updates in the first few posts could stand a refresh, too.

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BKDTV has been absent (or silent) for quite some time. The last post was on 08-22-2010. I hope everything is ok!

I want to know what brand/model of harddrive I should use in my TiVo Premiere (TCD746320). My brother upgraded and sent me his old one. The HD is blown up so I need to get a new drive and start from scratch.

This information is probably somewhere in this thread, but I didn't find it so I figured I'd ask...

I want to know what brand/model of harddrive I should use in my TiVo Premiere (TCD746320). My brother upgraded and sent me his old one. The HD is blown up so I need to get a new drive and start from scratch.

This information is probably somewhere in this thread, but I didn't find it so I figured I'd ask...

I want to know what brand/model of harddrive I should use in my TiVo Premiere (TCD746320). My brother upgraded and sent me his old one. The HD is blown up so I need to get a new drive and start from scratch.

This information is probably somewhere in this thread, but I didn't find it so I figured I'd ask...

Thanks in advance for any help.

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When you say 'sent you his old one', you mean his old Premiere, right? With a failed hard drive?

Your problem isn't going to be getting a drive for it, it's going to be getting an image for the drive.

Two Microtune MT2131 silicon tunersa popular 1GHz tuning solutionare the only holdovers from the TiVo HD design. TiVo dropped the ATI Theater 314 QAM/VSB demodulators found in the TiVo Series3 in favor of the newer Micronas DRX 3946A and DRX 3944J. These demodulators recover and separate the A/V transport stream from the cable or broadcast RF signal for the Broadcom chip.

TiVo Premiere and TiVo HD:

Tuner IC: 2x Microtune MT2131

TiVo Series3:

Tuner IC: 2x Philips TDA6651

TiVo Premiere Demodulators:

Micronas DRX 3946J
Micronas DRX3944J

TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD Demodulators:

2x ATI Theater 314

The Micronas DRX demodulator is the same solution used by SiliconDust in the latest version of its popular HDHomerun tuner. TiVo uses a different part in the DRX line with support for CableCards and encrypted cable. In theory, it should provide a modest improvement over past TiVos in over-the-air reception with an antenna, although we saw little difference at our particular location.

IMHO, for whatever reason TiVo Premiere's OTA tuner performance is its Achilles heel. I've seen posts from apparently technically savvy Forum members attributing the shortcoming to inferior multipath rejection. For whatever reason, after comparing an S3 to a Premiere (and also to Sony's DHG), I found a significant difference (YMMV!) between the Premiere's performance and that of the the two older DVRs. Using identical antennas at the same location the Premiere pulled in fewer stations and indicated lower signal strength on all OTA stations received.

If, as some posters believe, TiVo brings out a new TiVo Premiere with digital OTA capability and it doesn't at least match or exceed what has already been achieved by TiVo's S3's digital OTA reception it will be an unfortunate product.

Huh. I use a Premier XL with OTA only, and ice been very pleased. It was sketchy at first, because I was using an entirely inappropriate antenna. After getting a proper HD antenna and pointing it correctly, everything's been grand.

Huh. I use a Premier XL with OTA only, and ice been very pleased. It was sketchy at first, because I was using an entirely inappropriate antenna. After getting a proper HD antenna and pointing it correctly, everything's been grand.

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The issues with the Premiere and OTA are with how the unit deals with multi-path issues, which are not the same as low signal strength reception issues. Most people will not have excessive multi-path issues and if their signal strength is at an acceptable level not see any issues with the Premiere and OTA. Those with multi-path issues will find that the Series 3 units can deal with them slightly better than the Premiere units. I recently added a Variable Attenuator to my Premiere and my issues were significantly improved.

I'm using two Terk HDTVA UHF-VHF Amplified Indoor Antennas placed side-by-side pointed toward a mountain approximately 60 miles away. Their VHF rabbit ears are retracted because all transmitters in the region utilize UHF frequencies. Both antennas receive signals through single wood and plaster wall beyond which the mountain is visible through a few tree branches.

All three DVRs receive 7 watchable signals from transmitters at an elevation of approximately 1900 ft on the mountain. But while the S3 and Sony DVR's achieve signal strengths as high as 90% the Premiere percentages are generally 10 to 15% lower. Passing aircraft often cause noticeable swings in signal strength and multipath dropouts from aircraft occur routinely.

Two other signals are watchable on the S3 and Sony DVRs from other lower but closer mountains in the region without having to fiddle with the Terks. However the Premiere can only receive one of these signals, consisting of two subchannels of the same station. While the Premiere can produce a generally decent image (with dropouts) they're at marginal signal strength (under 50%). The S3 and Sony receive both signals at or above 50%.

To perform these tests I disconnected one HDTVa from the Sony and attached it to the Premiere. I have not yet reversed the connections between the two TiVo DVRs for absolute confirmation of the results. I am surprised at the results.

TiVo is a premium product and is priced accordingly. I'd not consider buying a new OTA capable TiVo DVR unless it achieves equal or better performance than anything that TiVo has already accomplished.

I'm using two Terk HDTVA UHF-VHF Amplified Indoor Antennas placed side-by-side pointed toward a mountain approximately 60 miles away. Their VHF rabbit ears are retracted because all transmitters in the region utilize UHF frequencies. Both antennas receive signals through single wood and plaster wall beyond which the mountain is visible through a few tree branches.

All three DVRs receive 7 watchable signals from transmitters at an elevation of approximately 1900 ft on the mountain. But while the S3 and Sony DVR's achieve signal strengths as high as 90% the Premiere percentages are generally 10 to 15% lower. Passing aircraft often cause noticeable swings in signal strength and multipath dropouts from aircraft occur routinely.

Two other signals are watchable on the S3 and Sony DVRs from other lower but closer mountains in the region without having to fiddle with the Terks. However the Premiere can only receive one of these signals, consisting of two subchannels of the same station. While the Premiere can produce a generally decent image (with dropouts) they're at marginal signal strength (under 50%). The S3 and Sony receive both signals at or above 50%.

To perform these tests I disconnected one HDTVa from the Sony and attached it to the Premiere. I have not yet reversed the connections between the two TiVo DVRs for absolute confirmation of the results. I am surprised at the results.

TiVo is a premium product and is priced accordingly. I'd not consider buying a new OTA capable TiVo DVR unless it achieves equal or better performance than anything that TiVo has already accomplished.

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According to this very FAQ, the Premiere uses the same tuner ICs as the TiVo HD, and any differences should be due to the different demodulator ICs. And IME the Premiere actually does a better job on my local OTA stations with severe static multipath (or possibly overload) problems. I believe that the Premiere does better than the TiVo HD on static multipath (due to hills, buildings, etc) but worse on dynamic multipath (planes, trucks, etc). Other reports that the Premiere's reception can sometimes be helped by using an attenuator would seem to imply that some front-end circuitry (ahead of the tuner?) is subject to overloading by strong signals.

Other reports that the Premiere's reception can sometimes be helped by using an attenuator would seem to imply that some front-end circuitry (ahead of the tuner?) is subject to overloading by strong signals.

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That is my situation I have a tower about 9 miles away (NW) but all my other towers are 35 miles away (NE). Sometimes I will have no problems at all other times I can completely lose one or more channels. The day I put a Variable Attenuator on my Premiere it had lost one channel completely and another was breaking up allot (both channels were still working on my Series 3 units). After the install I turned the variable attenuator up and the missing channel came back completely and the channel that was breaking up was clear again. I have ordered some in line fixed attenuators to play with as the Series 3 units do have issues at certain times also.

I have a Tivo HD and a Premiere. They share an antenna I made that is similar to this:

The only difference I have noticed is the Premiere reports a lower signal than the Tivo HD, but I do not notice any difference in channel reception.
I guess I don't suffer from multipath issues (it probably helps that I live in a 3rd floor apartment. ). Transmitters are ~26 miles from my location.